1. Chapter 12: The World War I Era
III. Americans on the European Front

2. Objectives
Analyze the preparations of the United States for World War I
Study the ways in which the American troops helped turn the tide of the war.
Learn about conditions in Europe and the US at the end of the war

3. Bell Ringer Are allies automatically equals?
Can allies exist without a common enemy?
Ask students what kind of relationships allies share
List 5 ways US entry in the war would change the Allies situation
Change Central Powers situation.

4. Setting the Scene US 16th largest army in world
15,000 marines scattered
100,000 men in uniform
Sent small group (14,500) under the command of General John “Black Jack” Pershing
movie

5. A) Preparing for War
Pershing told US to have 1 million by 1918 and 3 million by 1919
Select Service Act: draft of young men for military service
American Expeditionary Force: Force US sent to Europe (doughboys)
No riots for draft
Limited training – bayonet, gas mask, rifle
convoy: group of unarmed ships surrounded by a ring of military ships
Not one transport ships sunk
US kept independent of Allied forces – Pershing did not want to be defensive – offensive
African Americans (300,000) did menial tasks – US loaned the French the 369th regiment – won the Croix de Guerre – Frances highest combat medal

6. B) Turning the Tide of War
November 1917 (Red October) – Bolsheviks – Vladimir Lenin’s communists – overthrew the Russian Republic
Germany’s 2 front war over - Race to beat the Americans
Broke the stalemate on March 21st – 1918; by May 50 miles from Paris
US Marines rushed to stop the advance, “We dig no trenches to fall back on. The Marines will hold were they stand”
Allies counter attack wins Battle of Amiens (August)– General Ludendorff tells Kaiser Wilhelm to seek peace
September – 500,000 US soldiers on last push – break all German lines – Germans in full retreat

7. C) War in the Air US used biplanes First used to scout
Dogfights with pistols and later machine guns
Eddie Rickenbacker – 26 kills
zeppelins: floating airships (Germany)
1918 – fleet of 1,400 planes bombed enemy positions

8. D) Ending the War Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire made separate peace
Austria – Hungary splintered – Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, and Slovaks declared independence
Germany asked for peace – allies refused
German navy told to engage British – mutinied at Kiel – spread
Kaiser fled to Holland
armistice: cease-fire November 11, 1918 at 11 am
Influenza epidemic – US brought it to Europe – ravaged Allied and German armies and continental US million worldwide - .5 million US

9. E) Results of the War 50,000 US died in battle
8 million total – estimate
5,000 killed on each day
Germany, Austria – Hungary, Russia, and France each lost 1 million
900,000 troops from Britain
Millions of civilians
genocide: organized killing of an entire people
Ottoman forces committed Genocide on Armenians – disloyal – hundreds of thousands

10. Review How did the US prepare to fight in World War I?
In What ways did American troops help turn the tide of war?
What were conditions like in Europe and in the US at the end of the war?